Cage Rage

"People in the higher echelons of boxing, like Don King and Angelo Dundee, don't understand UFC and don't like it, but once those guys start dwindling away boxing is going to be dead."

Yet compared to boxing, MMA's mainstream media coverage is sparse, with only a handful of newspapers dedicating writers to the sport. But slowly, things are changing. In recent months major broadcast media including MSNBC have expressed an interest in airing mixed martial arts events. HBO is in the process of hammering out a programming deal with the UFC.

Jacqueline Carini

Denis Kang and Thomas celebrate backstage

Jacqueline Carini

American Top TeamÂ’s Din Thomas wages

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More About

• Clay Guida
• Din Thomas
• Denis Kang
• Martial Arts
• Mixed Martial Arts

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Nonetheless, 28 states — including New York — still outlaw the sport. This past July FOX's conservative gab show host Bill O'Reilly alleged boxing played a role in Mohammed Ali's case of Parkinson's disease, then said mixed martial arts is even more dangerous because it allows kicks in addition to punching.

"O'Reilly's never going to get it," White laughs. "The bottom line is [MMA] is a lot safer than boxing."

Cedar concurs. "Boxers take a lot more damage, going through up to twelve rounds of head trauma," he says. "Since I moved to Miami in 1992 I could name four boxers in Miami alone who have died in sanctioned professional boxing fights."

No one has died in the Octagon. Numerous boxers have died in the ring. Hockey players have collapsed on the rink. And football players have collapsed on the field and never recovered.

"Honestly, I couldn't really give a shit who likes it and who doesn't," White adds, grinning. "The day willcome when you'll see the UFC on ABC, or CBS, or NBC. Just watch!"

And American Top Team will likely be center stage.